Ten Tiny Breaths – Review

THE THINGS…THIS BOOK HAS DONE TO ME!
…The things!
Oh my gawd!
This book broke me. Temporarily.
And then it put me back together until I was shiny and new again.
Maybe I was blind to see the MASSIVE plot twist, but….DAMN! K. A. Tucker, you sure can write!
I can’t seem to recall the last time I was so surprised, and so shocked, while reading a novel. My jaw dropped, my heart stopped; I was definitely surprised
God, I’m pretty sorry that I put off reading this book for so long, considering the author is a fellow Torontonian 😉

Sixteen year old Kacey Cleary’s life would never be the same again, not after her car was hit by a drunk driver, killing her parents, boyfriend and best friend. Enduring therapy, years of recovery, and losing her inheritance, she decides to take her younger sister, Livie, out of her aunt and uncle’s house and moves out to Miami. At first they struggle to survive, but if Kacey has anything, it’s the determination to provide for her and her sister. Eventually, they make friends with their neighbours who slowly become like family. The one person Kacey can’t keep her mind off of is her mysterious, sexy neighbour in apartment 1D, Trent Emerson. There’s this mutual attraction that neither of them can deny and soon they become inseparable. But Trent is hiding something; a deep dark secret he doesn’t want Kacey to know about because he knows when she finds out, it could mean the end of everything.

Just know, that from one reader to another, this book is literally going to BLOW. YOUR. BRAINS. OUT. It certainly blew my brains out. Obviously I’m too stupid to figure out the major plot twist (also given the fact I didn’t read the summary before reading the book), but seriously, my mind….was so….broken towards the end, I really couldn’t function after that plot twist. Don’t get me wrong, there are signs, there are obvious CLEAR SIGNS, I just….wasn’t paying as much attention as I thought I was. But man, if you want to read anything that’ll make your heart stop, it’s definitely this book!

Ten Tiny Breaths has it all. It has pain, love, recovery, friendship, even forgiveness. It’s one of those books readers can become fully immersed in and get lost with the story. In a way it is a bit of an ‘ideal world’ where everyone is nice and everyone knows each other, but this is fiction people!

Kacey Cleary is one serious cookie. If she was a real person I hardly know if I’d be able to be her friend. She hides so much because she has to be strong and mature, to take care of her younger sister and to give her the life she deserves. Although she’s determined to be in denial, there’s no doubt that Kacey is a strong independent woman, who’ll do whatever it takes to protect the people she loves. At least until you add Trent Emerson into the mix.

Author K. A. Tucker

Trent is…..AN INTERESTING CHARACTER. I loved him at first, though I found him EXTREMELY UNREALISTIC. Right from the get go he was in love with Kacey. He watched her, he visited her at work, he was always around. As romantic as that is, it’s also a bit creepy. Maybe just…A TAD creepy. Trent, I found to be, extremely mysterious, pretty much everything about him was mysterious… Despite that I still fell for him…. at times. What you want, what I think any woman would want, is for a man to love her, all her pain, all her faults, and to help her carry that baggage. We’re burdened as it is with the weight we have to carry. In the end, it’s so much easier having someone else help you carry your burden while you help them carry theirs. Trent loved Kacey and he didn’t push her. He became her rock, the comfort she needed, and she became his. But….that only lasted so long.

It’s hard not to fall in love with the characters and the story, getting attached to Kacey, Livie, Storm and Mia. But I can’t stress the massive plot twist that had my heart stopping and my eyes bulging from their sockets. Ten Tiny Breaths will captivate you until the very end. And then you’ll stop for a minute, close your eyes and take ten tiny breaths of your own, before letting it all sink in.